Secret Service Under Pitt. Fitzpatrick William John

to lay aside every emblem of noblesse, and adopt the style of an Irish sans-culotte, for fear of accidents. If I appear worthy the further notice of your lordship, no pains on my part shall be spared to merit the honour of being ranked among your lordship's most sincere,

'J. Richardson.

'December 1, 1797, Hamburg (under cover to the master of the post-office, Yarmouth).' – Pelham MSS.

Placed far apart from Richardson's letter is found the despatch of Cooke, wherein it had been enclosed. 'The letters by the "Nautilus" have not been received,' he writes, 'and we know not how to direct to him.' The Pelham MSS. are pyramids in bulk, but no other letter from Richardson, alias Turner, is entombed within them.

137

Neilson, Russell, Teeling, and Turner belonged to the Ulster branch of the organisation. Russell, who had been a captain in the 64th Regiment, and a J. P. for co. Tyrone, remained a prisoner until 1802, and, on connecting himself with Emmet's scheme, was beheaded October 30, 1803. Samuel Neilson, son of a Presbyterian minister, died, after many exciting vicissitudes, on August 29 in the same year.

138

Personal Narrative, by Charles Hamilton Teeling. His daughter became the first wife of Lord O'Hagan.

139

Castlereagh, i. 282-292.

140

Ibid., General Index, iv. 504.

141

Further on will be seen Portland's caution to Castlereagh as to the means to be taken by the Secret Committee of the Irish Parliament in order to divert suspicion from their spy.

142

The letter, of which this is an extract, appears in the Castlereagh Papers (i. 275-6). It was the interest of the spy that this letter should not be seen at the Foreign Office, Paris. It could do him no harm in the eyes of Pitt. A second intercepted letter from Reinhard states that consistently with his duties he sent Samuel Turner [of Hamburg] to General Hoche (see Castlereagh, i. 285). Tone mentions in his diary that Hoche one day 'seemed struck when I mentioned Hamburg, and asked me again was I going hither. "Well then," said he, "perhaps we may find something for you to do there. There is a person there whom perhaps you may see."' Tone muses, 'Who is my lover that I am to see at Hamburg, in God's name?' (Diary, ii. 341.) His diary is relinquished, however, just as he gets there, and his death in an Irish prison occurred soon after.

143

English in Ireland, iii. 278.

144

Ibid. iii. 284.

145

Irish Record Office.

146

Judgment Registry, Four Courts, Dublin, No. 302.

147

Tone's Life (i. 128) describes how, before leaving for America in 1795, he swore to his friends who surrounded him on Cave Hill never to desist from his efforts until Ireland was free.

148

This is quite Turner's style.

149

Froude, iii. 176. The original objects of the Society of United Irishmen were parliamentary reform and Roman Catholic emancipation.

150

Ante, p. 25.

151

The Rev. Arthur McCartney, vicar of Belfast, stated that he had never heard of a Committee of Assassination existing in Belfast with the cognizance or sanction of the leaders of the United Irishmen.

152

Froude's English in Ireland, iii. 175.

153

The following memorandum, though of no political import, is useful as an authentic record of facts: —

'1791, February 13. Samuel Turner and Jacob Turner his father, both of Turner's Hill, co. Armagh, Esquires, to John McVeagh of Lurgan. Conveyance of Premises in Lurgan.

'1794, October 8. Samuel Turner of Newry, and Jane Turner, late of Lurgan, now of Newry, to Thompson and others. Premises in Lurgan.

The Teelings, with whom Turner claims to be intimate, came from Lurgan.' See Webb's Irish Biography.

154

See Conlan's sworn information, Appendix.

155

James Hope to the late Mr. Hugh McCall, of Lisburn. See Webb's Irish Biography for an appreciative notice of Hope.

156

Froude's English in Ireland, iii. 290.

157

There were informers from the first, but not to the extent suggested; nor can it be fairly said that they were men 'deepest in the secret.' 'This and similar information,' writes Mr. Froude, 'came in to them (the Government) from a hundred quarters' (p. 177). 'They had an army of informers' (p. 174). The historian here writes of the year '96, and rather overrates the extent of the treachery. Dr. Macnevin, writing in 1807, says that the secrets of the United Irishmen were kept with wonderful fidelity. Their society existed from 1791; it was not until 1798, when ropes were round their necks, that Reynolds and McGuckin proved false; and the same remark applies to most of the others.

158

As regards Pelham's correspondent in 1796, and Downshire's in 1797, does Mr. Froude mistake, for two distinct betrayers, the one Informer? His striking scenes, his dramatic situations, his fine painting and accessories, remind me of a stage where the movements of a few men convey the idea of an advancing 'army.' That 'Downshire's friend' had been previously known as an informer is proved by a letter from the Viceroy Camden to Portland, dated December 9, 1797.

159

Lives and Times of the United Irishmen, iv. 22.

160

Ante, p. 11.

161

Appendix No. 1 to Report of the Secret Committee of the House of Commons, 1798.

162

See ante, p. 2; Froude, iii. 279.

163

The French minister at Hamburg.

164

The noble editor of the Castlereagh Papers says that this name is an alias for Samuel Turner.

165

Mr. Froude errs in stating (iii. 260) that Macnevin himself carried the Memorial to Paris.

166

All this is exactly what Downshire's visitor told him (see chap. i.).

167

His challenge to the commander-in-chief, Lord Carhampton, was among the 'imprudences.'

168

Instead of the words 'circumspect' and 'moderate,' 'prudence' and 'cowardice' are applied to Macnevin's party by Turner (vide chap. i.).

169

Castlereagh Papers, i. 286-8.

170

Among the letters headed 'Secret Information from Hamburg,' in the Castlereagh Papers, is one making allusion to the writer's previous communications with Downshire, whom he mentions by name, and stating that certain letters to Charles Rankin, of Belfast, were 'to be sealed with a particular seal I have for the purpose.' —Ibid. i. 234.

171

Mr. Lecky says, what previous writers do not, that Macnevin wrote the memorial at Hamburg.

172

Other intercepted letters addressed to the French Minister of War will appear later on. These unanswered appeals were well calculated to damp the ardour of the Irish refugees; but they tried to keep the machine of conspiracy moving – despite the subtle insertion of so many hidden obstacles tending to clog and destroy it.

173

Castlereagh Papers, i. 271.

174

Ibid. i. 284.

175

How this appointment came about, see Appendix.

176

Castlereagh Correspondence,